Colton at 2.5

C now says things like “oh-cake!” for okay and “noke-a-nuts” for no. And at dinner, “I want to see the food in my tummy. Aaaaaaah! Daddy, you see the food in my tummy? Can you see it Daddy?”

And yet there are days when I carry him out of the house, and he hangs on for dear life to the door handle, screaming. And then I cart him to the car, screaming, and wrestle him into his carseat, screaming and kicking, and deposit him at school. Where he has a fantastic day, go figure.

Speaking of school, we’ve been through some challenging days there with him pushing. Apparently my barely 26 pounds soaking wet toddler was “knocking down the little kids.” His teachers are wonderful though, and were very kind about everything, and even said they didn’t think he was doing it to be mean, just to play. The three of us decided to use positive reinforcement was the way to go, and he receives a Skittle from his teacher at the end of the day if he has a good day of no pushing. He’s gotten one two days in a row now and knows he gets one if “I no push my friends Mommy!” I remind him every morning to use gentle hands, be kind to his friends, and use his words and tell him how proud I am of him when he does well.

Colton will sometimes sing unprompted, though he mostly likes to tell me what I ought to sing. Old MacDonald is one of his favorites, but he likes to sing “Old MacDonald had a farm, eieieo! And on that farm he had a…bulldozer. With a push here and push everywhere! Eieio!”

One of the biggest issues we have at two and a half is control. C loves to control anything and everything he can. What we wears, when he gets dressed, what he eats, how he gets in his car seat, how we play when we play with him, etc. Pushing boundaries is is favorite! He’s very strong willed and independent, but what he lacks in cooperativeness, he makes up for in personality.

Some of C’s favorite things at the moment include: trains, trucks, cars, buses, any and all construction equipment, graham crackers (or graham crack, as he calls them), watering things, and letters. This summer he only knew a few letters and didn’t really care about them, now he knows almost all of the capital letters (W, X and Y are hit or miss) and wants to know “what those letters doing?” This means he wants to know what they say; I can’t believe he’s gone from zero interest to understanding that letters make words, which tell us something in only a couple of months. I feel I should add that I don’t particularly care one way or the other if he’s an early reader or that he knows his letters, I’m just amazed and how quickly he has picked them up!

Other random things: C sleeps in a toddler bed for naps and at night and does a reasonably good job staying in his bed; is allergic to peanuts, eggs and cats; loves Mighty Machines, a 90’s Canadian TV show on Netflix, and is so excited about Christmas – decorating the tree has been his favorite thing so far!

Just a 20-something girl living on the East Coast, trying to figure out life.
I'm a wife and mom to two.
I'm trying to rediscover my love for long walks, yoga and pilates. But not hiking. I still don't like hills.
I was raised at the beach, but I don't like the beach. I like to look at it, but I don't like to swim in it, I'd prefer a pool, thanks.
I'm just trying to become the best person I can be -- the woman God wants me to be. That's easier said than done!

E-mail Me!

Contact me at longbrakeliving@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you!

Hubby is my all-time favorite guy. A perfect mix of serious, sarcastic, laid-back, handy and nerdy, he is the perfect complement to me. I love his strong work-ethic and the way he always loves and supports me through everything. Some of Hubby's favorite things include: hiking, Virginia Tech football, woodworking, and his family. When I married him in July 2007, I had no idea what an amazing journey we were headed on, and how I could come to love him so much more each day.

Our oldest, Colton, is three years old. He is equal parts sassy and hysterical. He loves all things train, car, bus, truck, and machine related. He has a penchant for made-up words and loves to be the clown of his pre-school class.
Our younger son, Nathan, was born this May. He is pure joy and full of smiles! He is such a blessing and a perfect fit for our family.